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I Forge Iron

StephanFowler

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Everything posted by StephanFowler

  1. I have an Oiler in the supply line so theoretically that shouldn't be the problem, it's possible though
  2. I Have a kniyon style hammer that I built a while ago roughly 100# head weight, 2 1/2 drive cylinder (Prince hydraulic) Parker pneumatic solenoid valve 80 Gallon Home depot special compressor when I first built it I had it running well, about 3 Hits/ second but I built it in my garage and didn't want to run it in the attached garage, so it's been sitting to the side until I can get my shop built out back. I fired it up the other day just on a lark and it's refusing to stroke properly, the head travels up and holds for 2-3 seconds then drops, repeatedly....... I replaced the solenoid and the selector valve and it hasn't made any difference that I can see. any ideas???
  3. Had a customer ask for a mix/match of a couple of my more popular styles. He wanted the Blade shape and size of my "Slim Fighter" with a guard like my S Guard stag pieces, with an Ironwood handle whaddya think??? 8" 1084 Blade w/ Hamon Wrought S Guard and Fileworked spacer Ironwood handle.
  4. it is a silk screen stencil, ernie (the guy who makes my stencils) can help out with the details. I just sent him a word .doc of what I wanted and he sent me the stencil ($35.00 at the time) lightly saturate the felt on the contact pad tape the stencil down where you want it with electrician's tape making sure to protect area's that you don't want marked (or just be very careful not to contact them) Press the contact pad to the stencil when etching you need to "degauss" frequently, 3 seconds on, 3 seconds off, repeat until the etch is your desired depth. when your done clean the stencil with running water (DON'T rub the stencil, you can destroy it pretty quick like that) and spray the blade down with windex to neutralize the etch
  5. I have used a car charge to etch for over a year now, works great. I use a different solution for electrolyte that works well, 1 Cup of HOT water 3 Tbsp Table Salt 1/2 Cup White vinegar 1 drop DAWN dish soap (yes, it really should be DAWN) mix it up well and allow it to cool then I use a chunk of Stainless wrapped in cheap felt from wally world, the felt is only good for a couple etchs then it needs to be changed out I had stencils made by Ernie Gropstitch Custom Handmade Knives by Ernie Grospitch
  6. another option Vs the water is to stick the blade into a potato up to the point that you want softened,
  7. dohh, forgot to put em up Steel: 1064 Thickness: 1/4 In / Blade: 4 In O/A: 8 In Grind: Flat / Convex Finish: Satin w/ very light scale marks Handle: Yellow Heart (similar to purple heart, but yellow) Sheath: Hand Tooled Leather
  8. i built it using plans and parts from tracy mickley US Knife Makers!, Operated by a knifemaker for knifemakers!
  9. lemme know what you think I recently build a 2x72 grinder and have been trying all kinds of new stuff the dovetail bolsters worked out decently well, the fit of the slabs to the bolster isn't as tight as i would like but its hardly noticable (i did cabinetry grade wood work for many years, im a picky SOB) the tapered tang went surprisingly smoothly, i put in all the angles and bevels at the forge and did a really pretty good job, didn't have much grinding to clean up at all a "loveless" style handle. I've been looking at a LOT of pictures lately and felt the need to try a new handle shape, this being the first one its a smidge tight for a reversed inside grip (especially with my big xxx hands) but is really comfortable in other grips, also i have been making a concerted effort to slim down my handles, i went through a bunch of my older blades and realized that i made some big xxxx handles...... I feel like I pushed myself and am happy with the results.
  10. personally I would prefer it with just the cross guard, but that is mostly an aesthetic point. nice work
  11. Updates (yes, I have been working on this...) Full page Info: Fowler Blades
  12. i enjoy the filing actually, if you get a good rythme going it's very "serene"
  13. Clay: The Gratuitous Pipe smoking After a quick and dirty polish with a little bit of etch
  14. The other side Closeup of the Kissaki, starting to look good Ready to harden, I am hoping to get a basic Choji out of this clay layout. Thus far most of my experience with clay hardening ends up being rather Gunome shaped
  15. Description: Tanto in W2 Steel: W2 Tool Steel Thickness: .312 at Machi .205 at Yokote Blade: 11.25" Nagasa (trying for Choji Hamon) Here are some Progress pictures of a Tanto that I am working on currently. This is my first piece out of W2 (from Don Hanson) and I am very excited about working with this steel photo 1 Shown here is the original stock size, next to the broken down bar stock. I flattened it with a 12 Lb sledge with my brother holding the steel, took about two hours to get it down to 3/8" x 1 1/4". As you can see the original stock is 11" long, and the bar is 19" long, so flattening got my an extra 8 inches. Suprisingly the process of breaking down into bar stock was much easier than expected. photo 2 Sunobe (rough shape) formed. at this point I will cut it off of the bar and form the Nakago photo 3 Finished forging, did about 5 minutes drawfiling to check all the faces and shapes. I decided to move the machi up from what you see here. I originally had a 10 3/8" Nagasa but decided that the 9 7/8" balanced better with my intentions. photo 4 Profile view showing the pretty much finished shape (all drawfiles and hand sanding, feel the burn baby)
  16. lots of knife making supplie places have em, I would suggest rade hawkins supply, but thats cause he's local to me Hawkins Knife making Supplies
  17. no, the ridge goes towards the bit, especially usefull for foldover tomahawks but the drift corresponds exactly to the mass produced tomohawk handles
  18. for the longest time i used a cutoff forklift tine flat welded to the top of a 4x4x8 a36 block
  19. This is my first fighter style, I'm rather happy with it. 1065 clay hardened in water, (didn't get the ashi I was looking for ) 4.5" handle, 5.5" Blade, balances "perfectly" (IMNSHO) Ebony scales with brass pins and 1/4" thong tube the touchmark is "CROWBAR" in honor of the gentleman at Bowies hammerin that decided to bestow upon me such righteous moniker :D
  20. I tried out just straight "Minwax" wax paste polish, applied hot, several coats until a good dark patina is achieved, I'll let you know how it wears, but seems to do well so far
  21. some inspection polish pictures i'm pretty happy with it, got some interesting structure in the Hamon that im not sure how i did, but i have plenty of pictures to go back and figure out what i did with the clay :-/
  22. 13.5 in Edge 6.5 in Tang .375 in Curvature .25 in thick and 1.25 in wide at handle will be Shingoi Zukuri i should be able polish some this weekend
  23. forge to shape from 3/4 round W1 files, and stones to polish from there
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